David Moyes has backed Robin van Persie to repeat last season's 30-goal heroics for Manchester United, writes David McDonnell in Sydney.

Van Persie will make his first appearance for Moyes today after joining the United squad in Sydney ahead of their game against the A-League All-Stars.

And Moyes, who is excited by the prospect of working with van Persie, believes the £24million striker can be just as influential as he was last season.

"We've enjoyed having Robin here," said Moyes. "He met up with us when we arrived in Sydney and he's trained quite a bit on his own.

"We've tried to get a little bit of the pre-season work into him. I'm really looking forward to seeing him start and getting him playing again.

"He was a massively important part for Manchester United last season and I'm hoping he'll have just as big an influence this season.

"I got to see him this week for the first time. His control, touch, awareness and the bits of finishing he's shown in the small games is excellent.

"I've really been impressed by his professionalism, too. He's never complained and he's worked hard.

"We're trying to get him into a condition where he can do exactly what he did last year - score goals for United and be a big influence on the team.

"We're hoping to get more of that from him this season."

Having joined the tour late, in a bid to get him up to the same fitness level as his team-mates.

As such, Moyes said he may start van Persie on the bench for today's game, with Danny Welbeck leading the attack against the A-League All-Stars.

(Photo: John Peters)

"We'll probably only use Robin in the second-half at times," said Moyes. "We've over-trained him this week to try and make sure he builds up his fitness.

"I wouldn't say it was a surprise [how well he started]. It was nice, obviously, and probably a bit of a relief for him. It was a big move and a big time.

"There was a bit of pressure on his shoulders but he got off to a flying start and won us important games at that time of the year and then carried on from there.

"It was great to see the goals flying in. Throughout the season the impact he made was amazing for his first year at the club."

In contrast to van Persie, who enjoyed a remarkable first season, fellow United striker Welbeck plundered just two goals last term, despite making 40 appearances.

It was a familiar story in the opening game of United's pre-season tour, , where Welbeck had several goalscoring opportunities but failed to take them.

Moyes knows how highly regarded Welbeck is at United and believes the young England forward can improve his goal output, which is why he is prepared to invest time in

"When I arrived I was told how important Danny had been and how important he will be," said Moyes. "We're giving him an opportunity now and he has the chance to get games.

"We're hoping his goals come as well. He had a couple of chances the other night.

But it would be worse if he wasn't getting chances.

"Hopefully he'll start taking a few of those chances and that will give him the confidence he needs to go on a run and score plenty of goals.

"I think he's aware himself that there's an issue there [with the lack of goals]. I spoke to him quite a bit yesterday and I told him the harder you work, you tend to find the more luck comes your way.

"He has to continue the practice and try to improve his finishing so he feels confident in taking the chances that come to him.

"His work has never been in question. I've told him that I'm sure it will change for him if he keeps doing the right things."

(Photo: Matthew Peters)

After a week-and-a-half away with his squad on tour, Moyes admitted he was beginning to feel a greater sense of familiarity with his players as well as his role as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor.

"The most important thing is that I'm getting a chance to know them," said Moyes. "We've been away about 10 days now and I'm beginning to feel more comfortable in the new environment.

"I'm sure they're beginning to get a lot more comfortable with a new manager and new staff around them as well. It's a big change for the players as well as it is for me.

"But it's been good. We're in a brilliant city and everybody loves Sydney. We've had a chance to have a base here and we've really enjoyed it. It's been nice to have got here and settled. We'll have been here for eight days by the time we leave.

"It's an important time for us. We need to prepare right, we need to get ourselves in a good state, physically and we've been given a good opportunity.

"The pitch we've been training on has been great, we've been able to use the gym and make it a home from home. We've been doing the same things as we would back in Manchester, so it's been a good week."

After losing their first game under him, Moyes said he expects to see a big improvement from his side in their second outing under him, before the squad heads on to Japan for the third leg of the tour.

"There's always an expectation from ourselves to play well and win games, no matter what happened in the last game," said Moyes. "We don't like losing. We hate losing. It wasn't nice to come away from the last game with a defeat.

"All in all, we take what we can from the game. Some of us got 90 minutes and that was the first game back. Now we're preparing for this game and we'll be ready for that.

"I want to see us step up from where we were in Thailand. I thought, in general, our fitness was fine in difficult conditions, but I want to see the play improve as well. We had opportunities to score and I'd like to see that improve.

"We gave away a few chances to the opposition in the first-half, which I didn't like, and I want that to improve as well.

"It's pre-season for us. We're heading towards the Swansea game on the first day of the season and, a week before that, the Community Shield. This game is important but it's not the most important thing in the overall picture."